


and love is not a choice

by Chill4dayz, sheps



Category: Original Work
Genre: Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Color Guard Shenanigans, Flower Crowns, Fluff, Genderfluid Character, Inspired by Music, M/M, Non-binary character, Prompt Fill, Short & Sweet, they just don't really know it yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26145574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chill4dayz/pseuds/Chill4dayz, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheps/pseuds/sheps
Summary: “Did you like it? Was I good?” Calix asked, when he came running up to Viktor after the coach released them from the field. Like he didn’t know Viktor had seen the routine so many times they could probably perform it themselves. Like he didn’t know he asked Viktor the same two questions every time they stayed and watched.“It was great,” Viktor answered anyway. “You were great.”Calix beamed and leaned in to press a kiss to Viktor’s cheek. “Thanks. I gotta go clean up and grab my stuff from the locker room. Give me five minutes and we can go?”“Sure.” Calix nodded another thanks and took off towards the school building. Viktor watched his dark curls bounce around his head as he did.And Viktor knew for a fact they’d never looked twice at anybody’s hair before. That they’d never taken time out of their day for something as mundane as watching a practice. That they’d never felt the way they felt about Calix towards anyone else and no one else had ever made them feel the way Calix did.So maybe he was a romantic. Just a little. Maybe.___Viktor contemplates their relationship with Calix. Like it tends to, music explains better than they can.
Relationships: Viktor/Calix
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	and love is not a choice

**Author's Note:**

> For Chill and the Discord folks who know where this came from: I love these boys and I hope I made you love these boys too if you don't already. Chill, I hope you like this, and I'm so excited to keep creating this world with you! 
> 
> For everyone else: One of my best friends and I have been working on this project together where she creates and draws awesome characters and I write them backgrounds and scream about them a lot. This is a small piece of a much larger world that we're slowly but surely bringing together and I'm just super stoked about it. And it's super gay and minority inclusive heyo. 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> ((Title and inspiration from Panic! At The Disco's "Girls/Girls/Boys"))

Viktor didn’t think they were much of a romantic, not that they would know. Romance had never really been something on their radar.They didn’t think it was a lack of love necessarily; they knew they were plenty loved by their father back home, but their father had never been one to openly show affection. And frankly, Viktor hadn’t had time when they were home to consider any kind of relationship. They were too busy helping their father and learning how to properly lead The Unbounded.

With all of that gone, though, Viktor wasn’t exactly sure where they stood in it all. Because they definitely did not need to stay and watch Calix’s color guard practice when they offered to take him out to eat afterwards, but here they were. Viktor had, in fact, never spent more time in the football field’s bleachers the entire time they’d been attending this school than they had after meeting Calix. And even more so after they had started–

Dating? Is that what they were doing?

A flash of light bounced off the sequins of Calix’s leotard and into Viktor’s eyes as they watched Calix step into a spin, tossing his flag into the air as he went.

Humans were complicated enough, but Calix had to be a special case. Calix, who caught his flag easily as he came out of his twirl and immediately sought out Viktor’s lone form in the stands as he shifted into his final pose. Viktor flashed him a peace sign. The grin they got in response was nice, but hearing the joyful cheer that bubbled out of Calix’s throat when the coach praised the team did something funny to their stomach.

Calix was definitely a special case. In more ways than one.

“Did you like it? Was I good?” Calix asked, when he came running up to Viktor after the coach released them from the field. Like he didn’t know Viktor had seen the routine so many times they could probably perform it themselves. Like he didn’t know he asked Viktor the same two questions every time they stayed and watched.

“It was great,” Viktor answered anyway. “You were great.”

Calix beamed and leaned in to press a kiss to Viktor’s cheek. “Thanks. I gotta go clean up and grab my stuff from the locker room. Give me five minutes and we can go?”

“Sure.” Calix nodded another thanks and took off towards the school building. Viktor watched his dark curls bounce around his head as he did.

And Viktor knew for a fact they’d never looked twice at anybody’s hair before. That they’d never taken time out of their day for something as mundane as watching a practice. That they’d never felt the way they felt about Calix towards anyone else and no one else had ever made them feel the way Calix did.

So maybe he was a romantic. Just a little. Maybe.

They smiled as they watched Calix come tearing back out of the building, now with a hoodie pulled on over his leotard and the flower crown he’d worn to school that day nestled back in his hair.

“I’m starving,” he said as he stopped in front of Viktor once more. “What do you want to eat?”

Viktor shrugged and reached out to tug Calix’s duffle bag off his shoulder. “I don’t care,” they said simply, slinging the bag over their own shoulder, “but you do, so what do you want to eat?”

Calix’s yellow eyes were big and bright. “Chicken nuggets?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Calix grinned wildly. He reached into the front pocket of his bag, dug around for a moment, and produced a pair of wired earphones – miraculously untangled.

“You can pick the music, then.”

And maybe Viktor wasn’t such of a romantic after all, because if they didn’t have to sit through another one of Calix’s K-Pop albums, they sure as hell weren’t going to voluntarily. They put on a Panic! At the Disco Spotify playlist instead.

They started off towards the parking lot, the headphone wire dangling loosely between them. Calix looped his arm around Viktor’s free one and walked close enough for their shoulders to brush with each step. Viktor didn’t mind the contact. In their ear, _Girls/Girls/Boys_ was playing through the first chorus. Calix hummed along.

The first time they’d ever played this song for him, Calix had glowed with excitement and squealed, “How have I never heard this before? This song was, like, made for me!” They were glad Calix liked at least some of their music, although they probably wouldn’t say the same about Calix’s. Viktor struggled to find the appeal in all the different K-Pop bands Calix would play for them, but Calix got so passionate about each one that Viktor tried, they really did–

_And love is not a choice._

“Oh.”

Calix looked over.

“Huh?”

Viktor looked back at him and felt something click into place in their head.

_Oh._

_Oh, shit._

“Vik?” Calix tugged them to a stop. The look he was giving Viktor had quickly turned from curious to concerned. “Are you okay?”

And Viktor was a lot of things: half-demon, heir to The Unbound clan of the Underworld, a survivor of a mountain of tragedies. What they were not was _equipped to deal with this._

“Viktor–”

“That’s my hoodie.”

Calix blinked. He looked down at the black hoodie, which had Panic’s bright blue _Pray for the Wicked_ design painted across the front. Viktor actually hadn’t even noticed until that very moment, but he should have suspected as much – Calix had been over the day before and had made a habit of sneaking something out of their closet every time he came over.

“That you never wear?” Calix looked back up. “Yeah, it is.”

“You don’t even listen to them.”

“Sure I do.” He pointed at the headphone still lodged in his ear. _And love is not a choice_ , Viktor heard again. “Plus, this thing is so soft! And it matches my flowers!” He gestured vaguely to the crown of forget-me-nots on his head. “C’mon, Vik, I promise I’ll give it right back!”

Viktor knew he wouldn’t. He never did. Viktor actually missed the Fall Out Boy t-shirt he’d taken last month.

“Fine.”

Calix lit up with a beaming smile. Before Viktor even realized he was moving, Calix cupped their cheek in one hand and leaned in to kiss them. He smelled like sweet pea body wash and tasted like cherry chapstick.

“Thank you,” Calix murmured once they parted, still beaming widely.

Viktor cleared his throat. “Yeah.”

The song played through the final chorus in their ears. _And love is not a choice._

Then silence. Calix stared at him for another long moment, his eyes searching their face. Viktor wondered if he could see whatever piece had clicked in their head hearing that one line. They wondered if that same piece had clicked for Calix, too.

But neither of them pushed it. In fact, Calix was smiling again, and reaching down to grab his hand this time. “So, food? Let’s go.” And Viktor filed _whatever just happened_ away to think about later.

They started walking again. Calix’s hand was still clammy from his practice and their palms awkwardly slid together whenever one of them stepped out of time. Viktor tightened their grip. They brought their phone back to their face and opened Spotify back up.

“You’re coming to the game tomorrow night, right?” Calix chimed from beside him. “You’re gonna come watch me?”

Viktor clicked on the _recently played_ tab and queued the last BTS song Calix had listened to on their phone.

“Yeah,” they said. “Of course I am.”


End file.
